The Best of MTTD………..

NEW INTRODUCTION:

When Kansas State University Human Nutrition Associate Professor Mark Haub first published his findings after going on a Twinkie Diet he got a lot of grief from the food police types.

When I first ran this post back on November of 2010 it got a bit of notice on Twitter almost all negative regarding Professor Haub’s study.

There were complaints that his diet was not nutritious; he shouldn’t have done this study, it was a stunt, and on and on and on. IMHO those complaints were and are completely and totally misguided and undeserved. Professor Haub knows Twinkies are not nutritious. That was not the point of his study.

Professor Haub had a hypothesis that it was less WHAT we eat and more HOW MUCH (portion size) we eat that determines weight gain or weight loss. And his study proved that. In spades.

Just as Jarod’s Subway diet also shows, it is less WHAT we eat and more HOW MUCH (portion size) we eat that matters in losing weight and keeping it off.

So I post again The Twinkie Diet.

The Twinkie Diet

Have you heard the news?

Facebook has. Lots of tweets are being sent. It is all over the internet.

An Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at Kansas State University, Mark Haub, went on a Twinkie diet. Yes. You read that right. A Twinkie diet.

And guess what? He lost 27 pounds.

Let me repeat that. He lost 27 pounds!!!!!!

He ate one Twinkie, nutty bar, or powdered donuts every three hours in place of regular meals. For variety he ate some Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

In addition he took a multivitamin and a protein shake daily. At meals with his family he ate vegetables, usually a can of green beans or a few stalks of celery.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food.

The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months.

For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub’s pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily.So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned. [Emphasis mine.]

His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.

But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.

Haub’s “bad” cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his “good” cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent. [Emphais mine]

Keep in mind, I am not a dietician or a nutritionist. However, I have often said it is less what we eat than how much we eat. It is portion size that matters most.

Of course, restaurants do not see it that way. They keep shoving bigger and bigger plates of food in front of our faces. And I mean all restaurants not just fast food places. For them it is all about P.R.O.F.I.T.

Now I am not suggesting in any way shape or form you go on a Twinkie diet. I know I would not. Ever. First of all, there are just way too many tasty, delicious, scrumptious foods out there and I want to eat as many different ones as possible. Otherwise I would become B.O.R.E.D. I crave variety!!

Professor Haub does not recommend that anyone go on this diet either. “I’m not geared to say this is a good thing to do,” he said. “I’m stuck in the middle. I guess that’s the frustrating part. I can’t give a concrete answer. There’s not enough information to do that,” he said.

As for his diet, Haub says:

“I wish I could say the outcomes are unhealthy. I wish I could say it’s healthy. I’m not confident enough in doing that. That frustrates a lot of people. One side says it’s irresponsible. It is unhealthy, but the data doesn’t say that.”

You can read the full article, including a day’s sample ‘menu,’ by clicking here.

This is certainly very interesting and intriguing. I am sure we will hear a lot more about this over the next few years.

Featured Recipe: Authentic Hungarian Cold Cherry Soup

I chose this recipe for today’s post because it is still simply too hot for much of the country and the world to even turn on a stove. While this recipe requires a little stove top cooking it is minimal. And the cold soup is so worth it. And cold soup on a hot day is welcome!! Very welcome.

PREVIEW of tomorrow’s recipe: Since this heat wave seems stuck over Mother Earth tomorrow I am sharing a completely cookless dinner. It is something elegant and fun, but requires no cooking.

Here is what you need to serve 6:

2½ pounds fresh sour cherries OR

2 pounds canned pitted tart cherries*

Water only IF using fresh cherries

2 tablespoons sugar

1 slice of lemon, seeds removed

2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons sour cream

* 2 cans (It is hard to find 16 ounce cans of fruit these days. I use 14.5 and it works fine.)

*NOTE: Tart cherries are very healthy for you. There is some research that indicates trat cherries may be heart healthy. Read more by clicking the following link: Tart Cherries.

Here is what you do:

If using fresh cherries, pit them and then place them in a pan and just barely cover with water, about 1½ cups.

If using canned cherries, put the cherries with their liquid into a pan. Add the sugar and the lemon slice to the pan.

If using fresh cherries, simmer the cherries 10 minutes or until they soften.

If using canned cherries, simmer for 5 minutes or until they are hot.

In a small bowl mix the cornstarch and the sour cream together.

Remove the soup from the heat. Pour the sour cream mixture into the hot cherries.

Return the sauce pan to the stove and stir with a wooden spatula until the sour cream is well combined and the liquid has thickenend somewhat. Do not let the soup boil after the sour cream has been added to the soup.

Cool the soup to warm, and then chill in the refrigerator. Get the soup as cold as you can get it before serving, especially on a hot day. Chill it several hours if possible. I also chill the serving bowls in the freezer for about 10 minutes before adding the soup.

Taste before serving and adjust sugar or lemon juice as needed. Serve in chilled bowls.

Bon appétit

Cost

Fresh cherries I simply do not know the cost of fresh

2 cans cherries* $5.55

2 tablespoons sugar $0.03

1 slice lemon $0.08

2 teaspoons cornstarch $0.02

3 tablespoons sour cream $0.26

Total cost for 6 = $5.94

Cost per person = $0.99

Like I have said before, life is too short to not take time to enjoy and savor all the wonderful foods that are here on this beautiful earth. I think Dean Martin and Gisele MacKenzie say it about as well as anyone can. This video of the two of them singing, “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” is delightful.

Unfortunately the video cannot be embedded as the owner of the clip has forbidden it. But you can nevertheless watch it on You Tube. Click here to watch and listen.

Quote of the Day

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.